ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Brooklyn Park man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for crashing a van and then leaving behind his two injured children as he ran away.

 

Family members asked a Ramsey County judge Monday to give 46-year-old Earl Lionell Ward the maximum sentence. They said Ward would do more harm to others if he wasn't in custody.

Ward crashed the van in St. Paul on July 1. The accident left his 14-year-old daughter paralyzed and his 9-year-old son's leg broken.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the judge had to tell Ward repeatedly to be quiet and let family members speak.

Judge Leonardo Castro noted that Ward didn't honor two no-contact orders that should have kept Ward away from the children's mother the night of the accident.

More From KROC-AM